> However we are all beekeepers and we all use smoke.  Rhubarb in smokers is not any more toxic than the generic stuff to generate smoke that we already expose ourselves to. 

After all the insistence on scientific evidence, I find it odd that you would make such a statement. Certainly not all smoke is the same. There is a vast difference from burning oak leaves and burning tobacco, for example

Tobacco smoke in a bee smoker is very toxic. I don't have any evidence on rhubarb, but we know that vaporized oxalic acid should not be breathed. 

Personally, I prefer pine needles and oak leaves in the bee smoker, and resort to burlap when these are not handy. Diane Sammataro warns against using baling twine as it is commonly treated with chemicals. 

All smoke, of course, is harmful when inhaled, containing a wide range of toxins in small quantities. But some smokes are far more toxic than others. 

PLB

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